Castellanos-Galindo, Gustavo A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7849-5205, Robertson, D. Ross, Bravo, Victor, Saltonstall, Kristin, Sanchez, Phillip, Morales, Lucia, Cahill, Richard and Torchin, Mark E. (2026) First Confirmed Record of a Bull Shark in Lake Gatun, the Freshwater Body of the Panama Canal. Ecology and Evolution, 16 (2). e73114. DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73114.

Text 62. Castellanos-Galindo et al (2026) First Confirmed Record of a Bull Shark in Panama Canal_Ecology and Evolution .pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0. Download (1MB)

Abstract

Bull Sharks are circumtropical top predators able to tolerate a wide range of salinity conditions that include freshwater. In several areas of Central America this species is known to migrate upstream in rivers and is commonly found in freshwater. The Panama Canal, an engineered system critical for global shipping, has experienced repeated marine fish incursions into Lake Gatun, the freshwater portion of the system, since it opened over 100 years ago. With increased numbers of species and abundance of these marine migrants into the system it is surprising that no credible reports of Bull Sharks have been made to date. Here we present the first confirmed report of a Bull Shark captured in Lake Gatun, 30 km from the Pacific entrance of the Canal. Analyzing its DNA barcode and vertebral morphometrics and chemistry, we were able to infer the origin (Pacific Ocean), the total length and age (120–150 cm, 2–3 year old) and likely pupping of this shark in low salinity areas adjacent to the Canal. The recent capture of more bull sharks by the artisanal fisher who collected the study shark and a video of sharks at the seaward entrance to the new Pacific locks indicates that there is the potential for increased contact between Pacific and Atlantic Bull Shark populations through the Panama Canal.

Document Type:	Article
Programme Area:	PA1
Research affiliation:	Programme Area Manager > Programme Area Manager PA 1
Refereed:	Yes
Open Access Journal?:	Yes
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73114
ISSN:	2045-7758
Date Deposited:	13 May 2026 11:23
Last Modified:	13 May 2026 11:23
URI:	https://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/6216

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